2020 Volume 22 Issue 1 Pages 13-21
Objective: The main purpose of this study was to clarify the characteristics of gender and major in the life skill acquisition level of first-year students at university in Japan. Based on the results, the second purpose was to suggest the design of a better physical education course.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey using the Daily Life Skills Scale for College Students (Shimamoto & Ishii, 2006) and targeting 1,325 students (male: 745; female: 580) enrolled in the Basic Physical Education course, a compulsory course taken in the first year of study, categorized within the common subject of Physical Education, which was established in the fall of 2015 at University of Tsukuba, located in the Tokyo metropolitan area. We conducted a non-corresponding two-factor ANOVA analysis to determine characteristics related to gender and major.
Results: Among the skills used mainly in personal situations of intimacy, leadership, empathy, and interpersonal manner, female students scored significantly higher than male students. The score for the social and international studies group was, on the whole, higher than for other majors, and the value for the information studies group was lower. There was no significant difference between male and female students in the skills used mainly in personal situations of planning, knowledge summarization, self-esteem, and positive thinking, but the scores in this area for the information studies group were the lowest and were the highest for the social and international studies group; both differences were statistically significant.
Conclusion: Differences in life skills acquisition level by gender and major scores were found. Based on the results, we suggested a better physical education course design for first-year university students.
